Ironman Race May Limit Foreign Athletes

KELOWNA, British Columbia — Competition by non-U.S. citizens in the Hawaiian Ironman Triathalon will have to be limited by next year, says the chairman of the event.

"It has got to the point where we won't be able to allow non-Americans into the Ironman on the first-come, first-serve basis we have in the past," said Valerie Silk. "The numbers of triathletes in Canada is now becoming significant enough to look at creating a qualifying event here."

She commented while in town to address the local Triathlon Society, one of a number of visits she is making to the committees of major races in the province to gather as much information as possible before 1986.

"Honestly, we don't know how we're going to do it, whether it will be using existing races or setting up a race with distances similar to the Ironman," she said.

Silk indicated that a single qualifying race would have to be close to the standards of the two-mile swim, 80-100-mile bicycle and 18-20-mile run, with a decision necessary by the end of the year.